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Dear Friend,
There seems to be much making in March: hard at work on his First World War epic is the novelist Henry Williamson; almost swept away by the tide, Patrick Leigh Fermor makes his way across the Hellespont and John Le Carre’s made a movie.
And to honour International Women's Day we present the work of a woman poet of the 19th century, an astonishing woman novelist of the 20th and a woman’s signed Booker Prize winner from the 21st.
All the best,
Christian
OWNED BY A LINCOLNSHIRE WOMAN - Twenty four early 18th Century Sermons — William Savage; Thomas Knaggs etc — 1707-1710
24 separately published sermons bound into a single sammelband volume with the ownership inscription of an 18th century Lincolnshire woman. Small octavo sized volume, modern brown buckram and new endpapers (see 20th century pencil note to final pastedown ‘Bound Mr Liddon 16.XI.61.’) and a pencilled list of the imprints on the first flyleaf. Preceding the first sermon is an 18th century page stub on which is written: ‘A Collection of 24 Sermons... Elizabeth Yares Her Book Corby In Linchireshire […… Read more
HANS SLOANE JUNIOR’S COPIES - The History of the Life of M Tullius Cicero in Three Volumes — Conyers Middleton — 1750
Sir Hans Sloane’s great-nephew’s fourth edition complete with his bookplate to the front pastedown of each volume and annotation regarding slavery in the ancient world. I. Attractive contemporary full calf, red speckled edges in very good condition. Pencil casemark above each bookplate and an earlier casemark in red ink crossed through in pencil. Volume I has 18th century notes in a mixture of pencil and ink to the final pastedown including ‘Roscius’s profits as an Actor £5000 58’ and interestin…… Read more
TWICE & EXPERTLY ANNOTATED - The History of Knaresborough — Michael Calvert [Richard Chapman Lofthouse] — 1844
Owned and elaborately annotated by a mid 19th century Knaresborough local - ’R Lofthouse’ - with corrections and enlargements to the printed text. Small octavo bound in publisher’s brown cloth, marked and stained; outer hinge splitting between upper board and backstrip; binding remains robust. The book is complete as issued but extensively improved - twice over. The first owner was ‘R Lofthouse’, probably father of Richard Chapman Lofthouse, Deputy Surgeon General of the British army (1831-1907)…… Read more
MUSIC FROM ST MARY’S COLLEGE, OSCOTT AT THE TIME OF JOHN HENRY NEWMAN — H Strickland — 1844
Manuscript music written by a young seminarian at St Mary’s Oscott from the years when Saint John Henry Newman was living in the College. Small folio bound in half black roan over textured cloth covered boards. Cloth reinforcement to inner hinges, probably original given the weight of the manuscript paper. Written on the flyleaf ‘H Strickland S.M. Coll:. 1844’. Around a dozen lines of spiritual reflection appear on the following blank leaf: ‘This shall be the covenant I have appeared unto thee b…… Read more
MEMOIRS OF EXTRAORDINARY POPULAR DELUSIONS and the Madness of Crowds — Charles Mackay — 1852
Complete set of Mackay's history of popular delusions such as Tulipomania and The South-Sea Bubble when "whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit". The second edition; both volumes bound in publisher’s embossed brown cloth; rubbing to edges and particularly to lower corners. Top edge gilt and pleasingly bright gilt to spines; yellow coated endpapers with adverts and steel engravings by various artists accompany the text. Small piece of tape to the fro…… Read more
A PUBLISHER REMEMBERS - Richard Bentley (the 2nd) Memorialises the Family Firm — Richard Bentley — 1886
Grandson and last proprietor of the family publishing firm, here are Richard Bentley’s own 7 copies of his own books with his publishing memorabilia. Richard Bentley (1854-1936) was grandson and the last proprietor of the family publishing firm that carried his name, running it from 1893 until its dissolution in 1898. The earliest item here which dates from 1886 (Reprinted from ‘Le Livre’) was a promotional item about the firm which was intended for clients; the later imprints all form part of B…… Read more
AN EDITOR’S ARCHIVE OF ALICE MEYNELL - Books & Letters — Alice Meynell - Peter Marshall Fraser — 1965
Collection put together by All Souls Fellow, Peter Fraser, while editing the literary essays of the Catholic convert, poet and suffragist, Alice Meynell. Fraser published his edition of The Wares of Autolycus: Selected Essays of Alice Meynell in 1965 following research and substantial consultation with Meynell’s family - this is that consultation. Each of the books is distinguished in some way: the 1895 second edition of Poems has a handwritten poem on the first flyleaf which appears to be an un…… Read more
PREACHING DIARIES - LONDON, NORFOLK AND LANCASHIRE — Father and Son — 1897-1936
Diaries kept by one or possibly two clerics, perhaps a father and son in different denominations, between 1897 and 1936. 3 volumes (16cm x 14cm) two half red roan and one black, over green watered silk with gilt lettering to the front boards of 2 volumes; marbled edges, 2 volumes in very good condition, the third missing its backstrip and with its front board detached. Handwritten Vicar’s or Minister’s notes in a mixture of black and red inks and at least two hands; circa 700 manuscript pages. A…… Read more
AN EGYPTIAN JOURNEY JUST BEFORE THE DISCOVERY OF TUTANKHAMUN’S TOMB - Original Collection of 96 Sepia Photographs of Egyptian Antiquities — Nancy Parker — 1919
Collection of photographs taken by a British woman visiting Aswan and the Philae Temple Complex in the period immediately preceding the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun. This is a collection of 96 silver gelatin photographs mounted in a professionally produced album (17x21cm) bound in brown cloth with bevel edges and ‘Photographs’ in gilt to the upper board. Inscription of the presumed photographer ‘Nancy Parker January 1919’ to the front pastedown - two British women appear in an early imag…… Read more
1921 COAL MINER’S STRIKE & UNDERGROUND EXPLOSION PHOTOGRAPHS — Staffordshire Coal Field — 1921
Coal mining photo album which includes images of an underground explosion and ‘Strike Volunteers’ - strike breakers? - from the miner’s strike of 1921. Kodak “Eton” Album (17.5x14.5cm) containing 35 silver gelatin prints (c7-10cm) mounted on card leaves. Generally annotated in a contemporary hand these photographs show scenes from the Staffordshire coal field. The album begins with what is presumed to be a union meeting titled ‘Firemans Meeting’ - rather a pleasant scene of well dressed men sitt…… Read more
NO COPY IN CAMBRIDGE - Elysium. A Select and Up-to-date Magazine Produced by The Elysians, Selwyn College, Cambridge — William Ernest Bott; Archibald Baxandall; Carl Edward Fischer; Alec Manston Hughes; William Oliver Beamont; Samuel Percy Woodfield; — 1913
A contributor’s copy of a rare pre-war Cambridge periodical published by Selwyn College students though not found in any Cambridge collection. Octavo volume bound in quarter vellum over green cloth; Bill Pickard bookplate to first pastedown; overleaf a photograph of the ‘Elysium Publishing Association’ with names laid down opposite a manuscript ‘Brief History of the Elysium Publishing Association’ which explains that ‘Considerable friction with the authorities due to certain articles led to the…… Read more
FIRST EDITION - Jacob’s Room — Virginia Woolf — 1922
First edition of Virginia Woolf’s first major achievement as a novelist. Bound in mustard yellow cloth; good colour to the boards, a little fading to the spine; one tiny chip at the top of the spine label; rubbing to extremities; slight spine lean. Internally no ownership inscriptions; occasional spotting but a very good copy: pp290; 14 pages of adverts to rear. The first full length work published by the Hogarth Press and a langmark in 20th century fiction.… Read more
FIRST EDITIONS, SECOND SERIES IN VANESSA BELL’S DUSTJACKET The Common Reader: First and Second Series — Virginia Woolf — 1925
Beautiful collectable condition examples of Virginia Woolf's two great essay collections to be published in her lifetime. The first volume is in first edition grey cloth-backed paper covered boards to Vanessa Bell’s design, a bright clean copy, internally unmarked, a near fine copy. The second volume is in publisher's green cloth which is brightly attractive and in near fine condition in a very good example of Vanessa Bell’s dustjacket, light foxing to lower panel of jacket and a small chip at t…… Read more
A WRITER’S DIARY Two Manuscript Journals for 1934 & 1938 — Paul Tabor - Tabori — 1934-1938
A pair of manuscript diaries written by the successful Anglo-Hungarian novelist and screenwriter Paul Tabori - one from 1934 while he lived in Budapest and a second from 1938 after he moved to London. Small purple cloth binding executed for Tabori himself with his bookplate designed by fellow Hungarian ex-pat, Val Biro on the front pastedown. The manuscript (13.5x9.5cm) actually contains two separate notebooks: the first has been bound in with its decorative card wrappers and Tabori’s name on th…… Read more
LETTERS & PERSONAL PAPERS RELATING TO CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT SUNLIGHT & TARKA THE OTTER — Henry Williamson — 1940s onwards
A substantial archive - c600 items - of Henry Williamson’s incoming letters and his replies in the form of notes, typescripts and annotated letters relating to his creative work in the 1950s and 1960s, in particular his extended sequence of novels about his experience in the First World War. Among the collection is a fan letter from Len Deighton and 500 returned cheques signed by Williamson. CHRONICLES OF ANCIENT SUNLIGHT Some 190 items (c300 pages) of mixed typed, hand-written and telegram corr…… Read more
FIRST UK EDITION The Little Prince Written and Drawn by Antoine de Saint-Exupery — Antoine de Saint-Exupery — 1944
First English edition of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s beloved children’s story, with watercolour illustrations by the author. Crisp and bright orange-brown boards with decoration in red and blue. A little spotting to the preliminary page; no ownership inscription; text is clean and bright and unmarked: a near fine copy. The jacket has the correct first edition price ‘9s. 6d. net.’ on the front flap; it is browned, particularly to the spine with a little chipping at the head and tail of the spine.…… Read more
WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT MASSACHUSETTS POLITICS - A Joke Against Himself — Senator Edward M Kennedy — 1967
An elaborate joke on himself, concocted by Ted Kennedy some 5 years after he was first elected as United States Senator from Massachusetts. Large octavo sized book with ‘Published by Everett’s Bindery Bossier City, LA’ at the foot of the spine; gilt lettering on brown rexine binding and inscribed on the first flyleaf to Ted Kennedy’s intimate friend Claude Hooton: ‘To Claude - Who taught me everything he knew - I have learned [crossed out] Edward K August 1967’. The rest of the book is entirely…… Read more
‘ONE CRISIS AFTER ANOTHER’ - 1962 WHITE HOUSE LETTER ABOUT JFK LAID IN - “Johnny we Hardly Knew Ye” Memories of John Fitzgerald Kennedy — David F Powers; Kenneth P O’Donnell; Joe McCarthy — 1972
Inscribed by the President’s former Special Assistant - and with an excellent letter written from the White House in September 1962 thanking friends in Houston where Kennedy had just given his speech declaring ‘we choose to go to the moon’. 6th printing of this memoir of the Kennedy years, warmly inscribed by Powers on the half title ‘To Claud and Libby [Hooton] Who went all the way with J.F.K. My very best wishes always Dave Powers’. (The recipient Claude Hooton had close ties to the Kennedy fa…… Read more
SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH ON THE CORNISH COAST - WITH NOTECARD — John Le Carre — 1979
A signed photograph of the master storyteller near his home at Tregiffian on Lamorna Cove in Cornwall - together with a notecard sent in 1979. The photograph taken by Adrian Sherratt (27.5x20cm) is printed on Fujifilm paper and signed by the author in black ink. Accompanying it is a note written in blue ink from his London address at 1 Gayton Crescent on a headed notecard. In blue ink Le Carre writes to Mr Cotterell to ‘decline your kind invitation’ as ‘winter holds serious possibilities that I…… Read more
PADDY SWIMS THE HELLESPONT - Presentation Annotated Typescript Account of Patrick Leigh Fermor's 70th Birthday Swim — Patrick Leigh Fermor — 1984
Signed and annotated by the author, a photocopied typescript account of Patrick Leigh Fermor's awe inspiring swim across the Hellespont in 1984. Headlined 'Notes on the Hellespont 13.x.1984' and written ten days after the event, each of the six typescript pages has one or two additional notes in Leigh Fermor's hand to this copy: so the name of Nuri Birgi is glossed at the foot of the page as:' Ex-Ambassador in London'. The final leaf has a map of the great swim with additional clarification in b…… Read more
Marks in Books, Illustrated and Explained — Roger Stoddard — 1985
Very scarce large format catalogue of Stoddard’s ground-breaking Houghton Library 'exhibition devoted to those mysterious traces left in books by printers, binders, booksellers’. Near fine copy full of astonishing illustrations. A splendid counterpart to our collection of annotated books.
JOHN LE CARRE’S A MURDER OF QUALITY SCREENPLAY - Shooting Script With Revisions and Annotation — John Le Carre — 1990
No institutional copy located of this shooting script which has revised pages from 3 drafts of the screenplay and saw use by a cast member. Blue card wrappers with letterbox opening; closed tear above this probably removing an additional label previously stapled to the cover. Tape repairs overleaf. Binding secured by two flattened brads. Title page dated December 1st, 1990, Number ‘93’ (probably copy number) to title page written in black ink. The script is made up of three papers stocks dated t…… Read more
EXHIBITION PRODUCTION ARCHIVE - Presences of Nature: Words and Images of the Lake District — William Scammell, John Hilliard, Donald Wilkinson, John A Davies, Roger Palmer, Faith Shannon, Geoffrey Key, Julia Hills, Melanie Sproat, Mike Davis, Glyn Hughes, David Wright, Jon Silkin, Roy Fisher, Roger Garfitt, Paul Joyce, Norman Steven, Geoffrey Moorhouse, Fleur Adcock, Brendan Neiland, Rodney Pybus, Neil Hanson — 1982
Fascinating artistic correspondence, sketches and notes preparatory to the Presences of Nature exhibition held in Carlisle in 1982. The correspondence is all addressed to Neil Hanson, then Carlisle Museum Exhibitions’ Officer and the exhibition’s organiser who describes its aim ‘to assemble a substantial body of new work reflecting the beauty and variety of this Cumbrian landscape and the diversity of response it engenders in some of our finest contemporary artists, writers, photographers and cr…… Read more
SIGNED FIRST EDITION - Wolf Hall — Hilary Mantel — 2009
First edition of this landmark novel, signed on the title page by Mantel in her characteristic italic-style which dates from around the time of the book’s first publication in 2009. A good copy of the book which has been well read; slight spine lean and white marks to the front and back board. Small indentation to the foreedge. Internally the book is clean and unmarked. The jacket is scuffed and worn to the head and tail of the spine, and the creases between panels and flaps; about good to very…… Read more
Dr. Christian White
Christian White Rare Books
287 Leeds Road, Ilkley, LS29 8LL
07811 455398
info@christianwhiterarebooks.com
www.christianwhiterarebooks.com
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